Padded paper envelope

ABSTRACT

A padded and recyclable paper envelope is comprised of a front wall, a rear wall, an open edge for access to an interior compartment of the envelope, and a closure flap to close the open edge. A corrugated board is adhesively secured over an inner face of the front wall and rear wall to protect an item disposed in the interior compartment between the reinforcing corrugated board surfaces. The envelope is formed from a single paper blank on which the corrugated board is adhesively secured. The envelope and the corrugated board are formed from recyclable material.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a padded paper envelope.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known to provide envelope structures for shipping documents orfragile objects of substantially flat outline and which are vulnerableto impact when forwarded through the postal services. An example of suchenvelope is one in which the interior surfaces are provided with a“bubble-wrap” sheet of plastic material having air pockets therebetweento provide shock absorbing. It is also known to use sheets of Styrofoamor felt material inside an envelope to provide added protection.

It is also known to fabricate an envelope wrapper or package formedentirely of corrugated cardboard and such is described in U.S. Pat. No.3,743,173. More complex envelope structures using a cardboard insert anda fortified margin using metal clamps or folds are described in U.S.Pat. No. 1,486,154. These envelopes are not recyclable and destroyedwhen opened. They also do not resemble a standard envelope construction.These prior art envelope structures are also relatively bulky, areexpensive and need to be discarded after use for the reason that thenon-recyclable protective material is glued to the paper. It is alsoknown to provide envelopes formed of very stiff and heavy cardboard withsome of the cardboard also being waterproofed by a plastic film layeradhesively secured thereover. These envelopes are also non-recyclabledue to the plastics material used in its fabrication.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a padded paperenvelope which overcomes the above disadvantages of the prior art.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a padded paperenvelope formed of recycled paper and recycled corrugated board materialand wherein the envelope is totally recyclable.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a padded paperenvelope formed from a single paper blank and one or more corrugatedboard panels which are secured inside opposed faces of the envelope.

According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the presentinvention provides a padded paper envelope comprising a front wall, arear wall, an open edge for access to an interior compartment of theenvelope, and a closure flap to close the open edge. A corrugated boardis adhesively secured over at least one of the inner face of the frontwall and over the inner face of the rear wall to protect an itemdisposed in the interior compartment. The envelope is formed from asingle paper blank defining the front wall and the rear wallinterconnected together by a fold line. The front and rear walls haveopposed parallel edges. The closure flap extends from a free edge of thefront wall which is parallel to the fold line. Securing flaps extendfrom opposed parallel side edges of the front wall for adhesivelyconnecting the rear wall over the front wall when folded thereon aboutthe fold line. The fold line constitutes a closed lower edge of theenvelope.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the padded paper envelope of the presentinvention in blank form before being assembled;

FIG. 2 is a fragmented plan view showing the padded envelope assembledand illustrating the component parts thereof as well as a flat articlepositioned within the envelope;

FIG. 3 is a fragmented transverse section view illustrating theconstruction of the padded envelope;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the flat corrugated board panel secured tothe inner face of one of the front or rear walls;

FIG. 5 is a fragmented transverse section view illustrating theexpandable feature of the envelope;

FIG. 6A is a fragmented plan view showing a flap with three score lines;

FIGS. 6B and 6C are cross-section views of flaps with differentcombination score lines; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a method of manufacture.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2,there will be described the construction of the padded paper envelope 10of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the padded paper envelope10 is formed from a single flat paper blank sheet 11 of recyclable paperand it defines a front wall 12 and a rear wall 13 of the envelope. Thefront and rear walls 12 and 13 are interconnected together by a foldline 14. The envelope as hereinshown is of substantially rectangularshape and the front and rear walls 12 and 13, respectively, have opposedparallel side edges 12′ and 13′, respectively.

A closure flap 15 extends from a fold edge 16 of the front wall 12 andis parallel to the fold line 14. A flat rectangular corrugated boardpanel 17 is adhesively secured over the inner face 18 of the front wall12 using a suitable glue. A further corrugated board panel 19 of thesame size as the panel 17 is adhesively secured to the inner face 20 ofthe rear wall 13, as shown in FIG. 3. The panels 17 and 19 extend closeto the outer edges of the envelope front and rear walls 12 and 13. Thepanels 17 and 19 may be constituted by a single folded piece ofcorrugated board having a bottom fold line.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front wall 12 is further provided along theopposed parallel side edges 12′ with securing flaps 21 and 21′ foradhesively connecting the rear wall 13 over the front wall 12 whenfolded thereon about the fold line 14. The bottom portion of FIG. 2illustrates the interconnection of the rear wall 13 over the front wall12 by the securing flaps 21 using a suitable glue. The fold line 13forms a closed lower edge 22 when the envelope is formed as shown inFIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the closure flap 15 is provided with an adhesivestrip 23 over which is removably secured a release protective liner 24to expose the adhesive strip for securing the flap 15 over the rear wall13 to close the open free edge 16 for access to the compartment 25 (seeFIG. 3) formed between the corrugated board panels 17 and 19. Theprotective liner 24 is discarded when the envelope is used. Anyadhesive, such as remoistable glue, pressure seal adhesive, cohesiveadhesive, etc. is suitable.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the corrugated board panels 17 and 19define a plurality of elongated flutes 26 which extend in a side-by-sideparallel relationship. The panels 17 and 19 are formed with an undulatedthin paper sheet 27 sandwiched between outer sheet layers 28 and 28′with the undulated sheet defining flat hollow channels or flutes 26, asshown in FIG. 4, providing shock absorbing properties while beingrelatively thin. These corrugated board panels are secured to the panels13 with their flutes 26 extending transverse to a longitudinal axis of arectangular-shaped envelope as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the flutesextending parallel to the open edge 16. The flutes 26 may also extendparallel to the longitudinal axis of the envelope. Alternatively, theflutes of one of the panels 17 and 19 may extend longitudinally to thelongitudinal axis and the other transversely. With the flutes orientedin this fashion, it provides more rigidity to the envelope againstbending moments. Also, preferably, but not exclusively, the paddedenvelope 10 utilizes paper and corrugated board which is recycled, thusmaking the padded envelope totally ecological.

Referring again to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, there is shown longitudinal scorelines 31 and 31′ formed longitudinally and closely spaced from theopposed side edges 17′ and 19′ of respective corrugated boards 17 and19. These score lines 31 are formed on the inner surface of thecorrugated boards 17 and 19 and cause the boards to fold inwards alongtheir outer longitudinal edges causing the boards to move away from oneanother opening the mouth of the envelope at the free edge when pressureis applied between the outer longitudinal edges of the envelope in thedirection of arrows 32 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. Accordingly, theenvelope is expandable to facilitate the positioning of thick items inthe envelope with the folded-in outer edge portions of the corrugatedboards providing edge protection.

FIG. 6A illustrates a modification of the securing flap 21. Ashereinshown, the securing flap 21 is provided with three score lines 35,36 and 37 on the inner surface 38 thereof whereby the securing flap 21can provide expansion for the compartment 25, as shown in FIG. 6B. Thecenter score line 36 may alternatively be made on the outer surface 38′,as shown in FIG. 6C, to provide a gusset flap also providing forexpansion of the compartment 25.

An example of the method of manufacture is schematically illustrated bythe block diagram in FIG. 7. A roll of pre-printed envelope 40 is fedinto a machine where it is unwound. A roll of corrugated paddingmaterial 41′ is unwound and cut to the correct size on a vacuum cylinder42 and transferred at 43 to the web of paper on which glue has beenapplied at station 44. The vacuum cylinder 42 releases the corrugatedboard panels 17 and 19 at the correct position over the glue. A strip ofadhesive with a protective liner can also be applied on a separate unitof the same machine for the closure flap 15. Alternatively, the glue forthe flap can be applied with an offline process. The web along with theglued panels 17 then pass through a rotary die-cutting unit 45 thatcreases and die-cuts the outer shape of the envelope 10. The cutenvelope then goes through a folder 46 that does both the cross-fold andthe folding of the flap. The finished envelope is delivered at the endof the process.

It can be appreciated that the padded envelope constructed in accordancewith the present invention is very economical to produce and providesexcellent stiffening characteristics against bending and protecting itscontents against impact forces. It is also entirely ecological for thereason that it uses recycled paper and corrugated board for itsconstruction. As shown in FIG. 2, the padded envelope resembles astandard type envelope, such as a white postal envelope commonly usedbut which is specifically suitable to protect items of substantiallyflat shape such as printed documents 30 as shown in FIG. 2 or any otherarticle of flat outline, such as memory cards, circuit boards, or flatbrittle objects which are vulnerable to impact or bending forces. Thecorrugated board panels 17 and 19 also mask the item secured in theenvelope.

It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obviousmodifications of the present invention, provided such modifications fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

1. A padded composite and recyclable envelope comprising a front wall, arear wall, an open edge for access to an interior compartment of saidenvelope, and a closure flap to close said open edge; a corrugated boardadhesively secured over an inner face of each said front wall and saidrear wall to protect an item disposed in said interior compartmentbetween said corrugated board disposed over said inner face of saidfront and rear walls, said envelope being formed from a single paperblank defining said front wall and said rear wall interconnectedtogether by a fold line, said front and rear walls having opposedparallel edges, said closure flap extending from a free edge of saidfront wall which is parallel to said fold line, and securing flapsextending from opposed parallel side edges of said front wall foradhesively connecting said rear wall over said front wall when foldedthereon about said fold line, said fold line constituting a closed loweredge of said envelope.
 2. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 1wherein each said corrugated board disposed over said inner face of saidfront and rear walls are corrugated board panels.
 3. A padded paperenvelope as claimed in claim 2 wherein said corrugated board panels hasa plurality of elongated flutes extending in side-by-side parallelrelationship.
 4. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 3 whereinsaid flutes extend parallel to said open edge.
 5. A padded paperenvelope as claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure flap is providedwith an adhesive strip and a release protective liner removably securedover said adhesive strip.
 6. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim1 wherein said paper envelope and corrugated board panels arerecyclable.
 7. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 3 whereinsaid elongated flutes are formed by undulations in a face of saidreinforcing corrugated board panels, said undulations forming flathollow channels providing shock absorbing properties on opposed faces ofsaid interior compartment and extending to outer edges of said envelope.8. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 1 wherein said paperblank and said corrugated board are formed from recycled paper andcorrugated board.
 9. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 8wherein said padded paper envelope is a recyclable padded envelope. 10.A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 1 wherein said item is anitem vulnerable to bending forces or impact.
 11. A padded paper envelopeas claimed in claim 10 wherein said item has a substantially flatoutline such as a memory card or circuit board, a printed document, aflat brittle object, etc.
 12. A padded paper envelope as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said corrugated cardboard panel is a thin flatcorrugated board panel having flat elongated flutes.
 13. A padded paperenvelope as claimed in claim 1 wherein said item is masked by saidcorrugated boards.
 14. A padded paper envelope as claimed in claim 1wherein said corrugated board secured over said inner face of said frontand rear wall are each provided with a longitudinal score line formed inan inner surface thereof facing said compartment and spaced closely apredetermined distance from opposed side edges thereof and extendingtransversely to said open edge, said score lines permitting said innerface of opposed corrugated boards to move away from one another causingsaid compartment to expand for the placement of said item.
 15. A paddedpaper envelope as claimed in claim 1 wherein said score line providesfor outer edge portions of said corrugated boards to fold in to provideedge protection of said item.
 16. A padded paper envelope as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said securing flaps are provided with three spaced-apartlongitudinal score lines to permit expansion of said compartment.